Americans United - birthershttps://www.au.org/tags/birthers
enPerkins’ Parade Of Prevarication: FRC Head Lies About AU’s Lynnhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/perkins%E2%80%99-parade-of-prevarication-frc-head-lies-about-au%E2%80%99s-lynn
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">It has been a tough couple of weeks for Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Yesterday Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), issued a rather hysterical <a href="http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=PG12D04">email appeal</a> for funds. No news there. Perkins does that all of the time.</p><p>This particular message, headlined “Help stop secular tyranny,” took a line that’s increasingly popular with the Religious Right these days: “Woe is me! We’re being persecuted.”</p><p>The message contained this bizarre assertion: “Recently, a top liberal attorney – the head of the anti-Christian Americans United for Separation of Church and State – said that COMMUNIST CHINA was a good model for how to deal with conservative Christians.”</p><p>Wait a minute. I work closely with that “top liberal attorney” and head of Americans United. He’s my boss, the Rev. Barry W. Lynn. It’s my job to keep tabs on his comings and goings, and I don’t remember anything like this.</p><p>It turns out Perkins was referencing a recent debate Barry took part in during the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville. That city is the home of Vanderbilt University, a private institution that requires all campus clubs to be open to all students. Fundamentalist Christians have been complaining about this, saying it will require Christian clubs to admit gay students.</p><p>Barry, noting that Vanderbilt is a private school that is free to determine its own policies, advised the crowd to “stop whining.”</p><p><em>The Christian Post</em> <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-clubs-told-to-stop-whining-meet-in-homes-like-in-communist-china-70069/">picked up the story</a> and quoted Barry as saying: “I would suggest that people in this position – to use a phrase on a button in my dentist office that he always wears when he works, it says, ‘stop whining.’ I'd say stop whining here. Why not do what evangelicals do: Go out into the world, out into the community [and] have your meetings, if you have to, off campus. Show your faith [and] meet with students not in a club room somewhere in the university, but in those home churches that kept Christianity alive during the darkest days of communist China.”</p><p>I think it’s pretty clear from the context what Barry was saying here: If Christianity can survive official persecution in China, fundamentalists in America will probably endure, despite this policy at Vanderbilt.</p><p>Perkins surely knows this, but I guess he felt compelled to distort Barry’s meaning to stir up his rabid followers. He may have had another motivation as well: Perkins is trying to draw attention away from his antics. You see, the FRC chieftain has hit a rough patch lately.</p><p>On Friday, Perkins <a href="http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/perkins-questions-about-obamas-birth-certificate-are-legitimate-issue">was slammed</a> for saying that the “birthers,” perhaps the biggest kooks in the right wing’s cacophonous collection of crackpots, have raised “a legitimate issue.”</p><p>A few days before that, Perkins was <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/04/23/469291/tony-perkins-mike-and-ike/">ridiculed nationwide</a> when he attacked Mike and Ike, a popular fruit-flavored candy made by the Just Born firm of Bethlehem, Pa. As part of a publicity stunt to spark new interest in the brand, the company’s owners announced that Mike and Ike are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/business/media/mike-and-ike-campaign-concocts-a-dispute.html">splitting up</a> over creative differences.</p><p>Just Born never said Mike and Ike (who, by the way, <em>don’t actually exist</em>) were doing anything other than ending a business arrangement. Perkins immediately assumed it was a case of “gay divorce.”</p><p>On a radio spot, Perkins fulminated, “The duo is staging a gay divorce as part of a new ad campaign to draw in younger customers. In this society, even candy has an agenda!”</p><p>The Perkins salvo led to an amusing response from the Comedy Channel’s Jon Stewart, who <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jon-stewart-mocks-tony-perkins-remarks-about-gay-ads-through-perkins-cam-%E2%80%94-which-is-just-a-giant-penis/">mocked Perkins</a> while lurking behind a “Perkins Cam” that took the shape of a giant penis. (Beware: If you are offended by off-color humor, best skip this clip.)</p><p>Perkins also came under fire after he weighed in on the Secret Service prostitution scandal. According to Perkins, the fiasco was caused by the decision to drop the military’s “don’t ask/don’t tell” policy on gay service members.</p><p>“You cannot maintain moral order if you are willing to allow a few things to slide,” Perkins intoned.</p><p>The connection was so strained that <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/17/1084232/-Warning-The-logic-contained-in-this-diary-may-break-your-brain">one blogger</a> observed, “I am not sure how to react to this. It makes absolutely no sense at all, but apparently, gay people – the mere presence of us – causes straight people to do all kinds of heterosexual naughty stuff. I don't know. I am trying but it hurts my brain too much to attempt to make sense of this.”</p><p>So, yes, it has been a tough couple of weeks for Tony Perkins. But that’s nobody’s fault but his. He said crazy stuff and is being called on it. Going psycho on Barry Lynn won’t change that.</p><p>P.S. One more time, Tony: Americans United is not an “anti-Christian” organization. As you know, Barry Lynn is an ordained Christian minister. AU supports the right of all Americans to join the house of worship of their choice (Christian or non-Christian) or to eschew religion entirely. We simply insist that the government stay neutral on theological matters. If that makes us “anti-Christian,” we’re in good company because the Founders believed that too. </p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/descriptions-and-activities-religious-right-groups">Descriptions and Activities of Religious Right Groups</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tony-perkins">Tony Perkins</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/family-research-council">Family Research Council</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barry-w-lynn">Barry W. Lynn</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mike-and-ike">Mike and Ike</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jon-stewart">Jon Stewart</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/daily-show-0">Daily Show</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/birthers">birthers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/china">China</a></span></div></div>Wed, 02 May 2012 14:25:30 +0000Rob Boston7054 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/perkins%E2%80%99-parade-of-prevarication-frc-head-lies-about-au%E2%80%99s-lynn#commentsHoly-War Fever: Radical Rhetoric Stokes Flames Of Right-Wing Paranoiahttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/holy-war-fever-radical-rhetoric-stokes-flames-of-right-wing-paranoia
<a href="/about/people/joseph-l-conn">Joseph L. Conn</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">It&#039;s hard to see all the shrill and unreasoned rhetoric bandied about by the Religious Right, the &#039;birthers&#039; and the &#039;tea party&#039; crowd and not be deeply concerned about where our democracy is headed.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Is America on the verge of a holy war?</p>
<p>One writer seems to think so. In a provocative <em>Esquire</em> <a href="http://www.esquire.com/the-side/richardson-report/obama-fascist-081809">article,</a> John H. Richardson detects an increasingly radical – and potentially violent – stream of religious-political activism afoot in the United States.</p>
<p>Says Richardson, "Over the last few years, it has become increasingly clear to me that what we are witnessing is nothing less than the birth of a new religion. Cobbled together from old parts (fundamentalism, gun rights, excessive reverence for capitalism and The Founders, paranoid talking points from the good old liberal-hating John Birch Society, this new decidedly American religion has finally achieved critical mass under the pressure of a president whom its most extreme adherents call — by no accident — the Antichrist."</p>
<p>Richardson focuses on an eighth-grade public school teacher in Oklahoma City whose views are troubling to say the least. Mike Austin is popular with students, seems to be a great teacher and bakes bread for the principal who serves as his supervisor.</p>
<p>But, according to this profile, he has called President Obama "evil" and "malignant," and he believes that America is "rapidly becoming a Socialist dictatorship."</p>
<p>In Austin's blog posts, he rails against liberals who are allegedly trying to disarm Americans, charges that Obama is on a "Marxist crusade" to turn the country into a "socialist dependency" and warns that president wants to "allow sodomites in the military." He's reading a book called the <em>The 5000 Year Leap </em>(celebrated by Glenn Beck) that says American freedoms are all based on Christian morality and the Constitution doesn't mandate church-state separation.</p>
<p>Austin owns two guns and has a concealed-carry permit, but says he doesn't want to use either weapon. Still, on his blog, he notes, "We are going to learn whether it is true that 'all power flows from the barrel of a gun.'"</p>
<p>Is the <em>Esquire</em> article unduly alarmist?</p>
<p>It's hard to say. But it's also hard to see all the shrill and unreasoned rhetoric bandied about by the Religious Right, the "birthers" and the "tea party" crowd and not be deeply concerned about where our democracy is headed.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/fighting-religious-right">Fighting the Religious Right</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/antichrist">Antichrist</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/barack-obama">Barack Obama</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/birthers">birthers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/glenn-beck">Glenn Beck</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/holy-war">holy war</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-birch-society">John Birch Society</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religious-right-0">Religious Right</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tea-party">tea party</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/5000-year-leap">The 5000 Year Leap</a></span></div></div>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:53:22 +0000Joseph L. Conn1577 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/holy-war-fever-radical-rhetoric-stokes-flames-of-right-wing-paranoia#commentsLouie, Louie: Rep. Gohmert, You Need to Drop This Capitol Obsessionhttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/louie-louie-rep-gohmert-you-need-to-drop-this-capitol-obsession
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Capitol Visitor Center and the National Statuary Hall are no place for bogus &#039;Christian nation&#039; claptrap.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Prodded by the Religious Right, some members of Congress have developed an unhealthy obsession over the displays in the U.S. Capitol Building.</p>
<p>You might recall the recent flap over the new Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). The CVC is a $621 million, state-of-the-art facility that helps visitors to the U.S. Capitol understand the history of the structure and how the federal government works.</p>
<p>The Center opened in December of 2008, but even before it was dedicated, Religious Right groups <a href="http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2009/02/capitol-crime.html">began whining</a> because the CVC doesn't contain enough information about America's alleged "Christian" history.</p>
<p>This is perhaps not surprising since the Center is not a museum of religious history. It's designed to explain the history of the U.S. Capitol and the federal government.</p>
<p>Congress has already mandated that the words "In God We Trust" be chiseled on the wall in a prominent area of the Center. This was done even though the words are already there. The motto is displayed above a video screen that explains how the House of Representatives functions.</p>
<p>Now U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and 13 other House members have introduced something called the "Congressional Hope for Uniform Recognition of Christian Heritage (CHURCH) Act of 2009." This is <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3477:">a bill</a> mandating that the architect of the Capitol erect a plaque in the Capitol's National Statuary Hall pointing out that the Capitol was used for church services in the early 18th Century.</p>
<p>The CVC already includes information about this in one of its displays. So what are Gohmert and his gang really up to? From the wording of their plaque, it's clear they just want to take a cheap shot at separation of church and state, a phrase, they insist, is "not found in the Constitution." (Yes, yes, I know: The literal words are not there – but the concept certainly is. James Madison wrote the First Amendment, and here's what he said about it: "Strongly guarded as is the separation between Religion &amp; Govt in the Constitution of the United States....")</p>
<p>Thanks to the new CVC, visitors to the Capitol Building are getting a better look at American history as well as quick civics lesson on how our laws are made. Gohmert and his buddies need to give it a rest. The CVC and the Statuary Hall are no place for bogus "Christian nation" claptrap.</p>
<p>P.S.: Gohmert has one other interesting <a href="http://mediamattersaction.org/blog/200907290001">legislative effort</a> he has been pushing lately: a crazy bill that would require presidential candidates to make their birth certificates publicly available. This nuttiness comes courtesy of the deranged "birther" wackos who insist that President Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen, and Gohmert recently signed on as a <a href="http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:HR01503:@@@P">co-sponsor</a>.</p>
<p>The "birther" bill is regarded as a joke and stands about as much chance of becoming law as Barry Lynn does of being named the new president of Focus on the Family. Let's hope Gohmert's latest assault on the U.S. Capitol meets the same fate.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religious-mottos-pledges-and-resolutions-outside-schools">Religious Mottos, Pledges and Resolutions (outside schools)</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/birthers">birthers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/capitol-visitor-center">Capitol Visitor Center</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/louie-gohmert">louie gohmert</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/national-statuary-hall">National Statuary Hall</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/us-capitol">U.S. Capitol</a></span></div></div>Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:06:56 +0000Rob Boston2007 at https://www.au.orghttps://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/louie-louie-rep-gohmert-you-need-to-drop-this-capitol-obsession#comments